Hamburg city officials say that owners of vacant real estate have refused to make their property available to the city on a voluntary basis, and thus the city should be given the right to take it by force.

"The proposed confiscation of private land and buildings is a massive attack on the property rights of the citizens of Hamburg. It amounts to an expropriation by the state [and a] "law of intimidation." — André Trepoll, Christian Democratic Union.

"If a property is confiscated... a lawsuit to determine the legality of the confiscation can only be resolved after the fact. But the accommodation would succeed in any event." — Tübingen Mayor Boris Palmer.

Officials in North Rhine-Westphalia seized a private resort in the town of Olpe to provide housing for up to 400 migrants

"I find it impossible to understand how the city can treat me like this. I have struggled through life with grief and sorrow and now I get an eviction notice. It is a like a kick in the stomach." — Bettina Halbey, 51-year-old nurse, after being notified that she must vacate her apartment so that migrants can move in.

The landlord is being paid 552 euros ($617) for each migrant he takes in. By cramming as many migrants into his property as possible, he stands to receive payments of more than 2 million euros a year from government.

"Considering that migrants cannot afford to rent new properties... moves must be initiated in which higher income households purchase or build more expensive accommodations for themselves in order to free up the less expensive housing for migrants." — The Berlin Institute for Urban Development, the Housing Industry and Loan Associations

"I saw an unbelievable situation: the elderly volunteer lifted the table halfway, looked at the migrant and moved his head asking the migrant to lend a hand. The migrant paused for a moment and then just walked away." — Firsthand account, refugee shelter.

German authorities are applying heavy-handed tactics to find housing for the hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees pouring into the country from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

With existing shelters filled to capacity, federal, state and local authorities are now using legally and morally dubious measures — including the expropriation of private property and the eviction of German citizens from their homes — to make room for the newcomers.

German taxpayers are also being obliged to make colossal economic sacrifices to accommodate the influx of migrants, many of whom have no prospect of ever finding a job in the country. Sustaining the 800,000 migrants and refugees who are expected to arrive in Germany in 2015 will cost taxpayers at least at least 11 billion euros ($12 billion) a year for years to come.

As the migration crisis intensifies, and Germans are waking up to the sheer scale of the economic, financial and social costs they will expected to bear in the years ahead, anger is brewing.

In Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, municipal officials on September 23 introduced an audacious bill in the local parliament (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft) that would allow the city to seize vacant commercial real estate (office buildings and land) and use it to house migrants.

City officials argue the measure is necessary because more than 400 new migrants are arriving in Hamburg each day and all the existing refugee shelters are full. They say that owners of vacant real estate have refused to make their property available to the city on a voluntary basis, and thus the city should be given the right to take it by force.

The measure, which will be voted upon in the Hamburg parliament within the next two weeks, is being applauded by those on the left of the political spectrum. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that the refugees are not homeless during the coming winter," Senator Till Steffen of the Green Party said. "For this reason, we need to use vacant commercial properties."

Others argue that efforts by the state to seize private property are autocratic and reek of Communism. "The proposed confiscation of private land and buildings is a massive attack on the property rights of the citizens of Hamburg," said André Trepoll of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). "It amounts to an expropriation by the state." He said the proposed measure is a "law of intimidation" that amounts to a "political dam break with far-reaching implications." He added: "The ends do not justify any and all means."

The leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) in Hamburg, Katja Suding, said that the proposed law is an "unacceptable crossing of red lines... Such coercive measures will only fuel resentment against refugees."

In Tübingen, a town in Baden-Württemberg, Mayor Boris Palmer (also of the Green Party), is making offers to rent or buy vacant properties to house migrants. But he is also threatening to confiscate the property of landlords who dare to reject his offer. In an interview with the newspaper Die Welt, Palmer said:

"In the written offers, I advise that the Police Law (Polizeigesetz) gives us the possibility, in cases of emergency, to confiscate homes for several months. The law provides for seizure in emergencies. I want to avoid this, but if there is no other way, I will make use of this law."

When asked if he was afraid of lawsuits, Palmer said:

"No. The Police Law has clear rules. When the town is threatened with homelessness, empty homes may be confiscated. This emergency can happen when accommodations are overcrowded and we continue to receive 50 new migrants in Tübingen. If a property is confiscated, we would order immediate enforcement. That is to say, a lawsuit to determine the legality of the confiscation can only be resolved after the fact. But the accommodation would succeed in any event."

In February 2015, officials in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) seized a private resort in the town of Olpe to provide housing for up to 400 migrants. The initial plan was for the town to purchase the resort from its Bavarian owners and rent it to NRW, but NRW officials decided to confiscate the property instead. According to NRW Interior Minister Ralf Jäger, properties may be seized whenever there is a "threat to public order and safety," and the threat of mass homelessness among migrants fits the bill.

In Nieheim, another town in NRW, Mayor Rainer Vidal is using a legal maneuver called "right of repossession" (Eigenbedarf) to terminate the leases of German citizens living in state-owned apartment buildings so that migrants can move in.

On September 1, 51-year-old Bettina Halbey, who has been living in her apartment for more than 16 years, received a letter notifying her that she must vacate her apartment by May 2016 so that migrants can move in. Halbey was shell-shocked:

"I'm completely taken by surprise. I find it impossible to understand how the city can treat me like this. I cannot come to grips with this situation. I have struggled through life with grief and sorrow and now I get an eviction notice. It is a like a kick in the stomach."

Halbey, a nurse, says that it will be difficult for her to find another place to live: "I have a dog and a cat. Many landlords will not even consider renting to me."

Out with the old, in with the new... German authorities are using legally and morally dubious measures — including the eviction of German citizens from their homes — in an attempt to find housing for hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving this year.

In the same building, a single mother with two children has been given until August 2016 to move out of her apartment, also to make room for migrants. Initially, she had been ordered to vacate the property by November 2015, but her eviction was delayed to allow her daughter to finish the school year without interruption.

In an interview with the newspaper Westfalen-Blatt, Vidal, an independent who does not belong to any political party, said: "I know this is an unconventional measure. But as a community, we have an obligation to provide housing for migrants." He said he wanted to turn the entire apartment building into housing for migrants. Vidal said it would not be financially viable to house them anywhere else.

In some cases, landlords are evicting long-time residents because the government is offering them more money to house migrants than they are receiving in rent from existing tenants.

In Braunsbedra, a small town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, a landlord evicted dozens of residents from an apartment building to make way for migrants. According to local media, the landlord, Marcus Skowronek, is being paid 552 euros ($617) for each migrant he takes in. By cramming as many migrants into his property as possible, he stands to receive payments of more than 2 million euros a year from local and regional governments.

When reporters from public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk visited the property to interview Skowronek, he said:

"I am asking you to leave the premises. You are banned (Hausverbot) from entering the building. Please leave the property. I am sorry. Otherwise I will have to call the police. Please go."

In Berlin, the Institute for Urban Development, the Housing Industry and Loan Associations (Berliner Institut für Städtebau, Wohnungswirtschaft und Bausparwesen, IFS) has warned that, given the influx of so many migrants, the demand for housing will outstrip supply for many years to come. Of the 285,000 building permits approved in 2014, only 56,000 were apartments in multi-unit buildings of the kind that are suitable for migrants.

The IFS is now calling for the initiation of a process in which Germans who are currently living in inexpensive housing, but who can afford more expensive accommodations, move out of their existing homes to make way for migrants. According to the IFS:

"Considering that migrants cannot afford to rent new properties, the vast majority can only afford cheaper housing, a chain reaction of moves (Umzugsketten) must be initiated in which higher income households purchase or build more expensive accommodations for themselves in order to free up the less expensive housing for migrants."

The IFS does not explain why Germans who are living within their means should suddenly be expected to take on debt to purchase a more expensive home.

Germans are not only being evicted from their homes to make way for migrants, they are also being removed from their schools.

In Lübbecke, another town in NRW, teachers and students were given less than 24 hours to vacate the Jahn-Realschule, a secondary school for 150 students, so that the building can be used to house 300 migrants.

The school principal, Marion Bienen, said that municipal authorities notified her at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, September 15, that last day of classes at the school would be Wednesday, September 16. Students were ordered immediately to remove all of their belongings from the premises and to take a week off until alternative classrooms could be found. Bienen said:

"My students are also human beings. You cannot treat them this way. They were given 15 minutes to remove their belongings from the classroom. Then they had to get out. The evacuation was as during wartime.... There were no discussions. No one forewarned us."

The Center for Economic Studies, a think tank based in Munich, has published a report warning that most of the migrants arriving in Germany lack the most basic qualifications to find work in the country. This implies that they will become long-term wards of the state and thus a drag on the German economy. The report advises lowering the minimum wage as a way to prevent a surge in the unemployment rate:

"To ensure that the refugee crisis does not lead to an ongoing financial overload for the German taxpayer, refugees must find paid employment as soon as possible, so that they can contribute to their own livelihoods. It is feared that many of them will not be able to find employment at the minimum wage of 8.50 euros because their productivity simply is too low. Therefore, the minimum wage should be lowered, so that the unemployment rate does not go up."

Meanwhile, politicians are demanding that German citizens do more to ensure that the migrants feel at home. But a first-hand account of the goings-on in a refugee shelter articulates the frustration felt by many Germans that this is a one-way street:

"For about a week now, 500 migrants and refugees are being housed in the gym in our neighborhood. So I went over there because I wanted to see the conditions there with my own eyes. There were about ten vehicles belonging to the Red Cross and volunteers.

"Older men over 60 were unloading tables and benches from the trucks, cleaning them with a bucket of water and cloth, and then carrying them into the hall....

"What made me really angry was to see the incredible lethargy of the young men. All of them in their 20s and 30s, all sitting there, smoking and looking at their cell phones, while the 60-year-old volunteers where laboring away....

"While I was watching how the Red Cross volunteers were working and no one was helping them, I saw an unbelievable situation: an elderly gentleman was trying to carry a table into the hall when a refugee returned from the city center with a shopping bag. The elderly volunteer lifted the table halfway, looked at the migrant and moved his head asking the migrant to lend a hand. The migrant paused for a moment and then just walked away. I could hardly believe what I saw."

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-basedGatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him onFacebook and onTwitter. His first book,Global Fire, will be out in early 2016.

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67 Reader Comments

John Cluderay • Dec 31, 2016 at 14:39

"We can do it"! There is no "We" in that statement, and this article underlines that fact.

Germany is dead. The politicians are traitors. The populace is fearful, in denial of objective reality, or else paralysed by ghosts from the past. The EU is dragging it's own corpse and the consequences for all European nations promise catastrophe. Never before have I been so afraid for the future. Citizens of Germany please WAKE UP!

Much of this European suicide is avoidable if we had political leaderships capable of exhibiting integrity, pride and vision for each respective nation. Sadly there is no real prospect of salvation. Now I fear the future will bring mass social upheaval and an increasing likely hood of civil war.

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JEAN • Oct 12, 2015 at 23:23

Many of the migrants are healthy young men. Let them return to their homelands to fight their own battles. They appear to be very arrogant, demanding service from those whom they perceive as inferior because they are not Muslim.

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AKD JEAN • Oct 23, 2015 at 18:42

Yes, migrants have 100% right to go back their country. In fact they should go back and save their land from invaders.

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noiu • Oct 2, 2015 at 00:08

My sister works in Bremen (she has rent a room outside of town she has to take the train to go to work). She wants to move to Bremen and it's been 2 months now she cannot find a house for rent; she said there are a lot of requests for rented houses. Meanwhile ...

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lori noiu • Jan 22, 2016 at 22:37

Germany is indeed finished. The biggest fight they ever have to fight is coming, that is if they want to conserve their culture and democracy, but of course, they won't admit it until it will be too late.

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Lee • Oct 1, 2015 at 13:18

While I think the German government's response is appalling and divisive -- almost as if they are trying to get average Germans angry at asylum seekers (and probably vice-versa) -- there are problems in German society and law that exacerbate things.

Are these "vacant apartments" just sitting there empty for no reason? Or are the landlords trying to rent them, but won't rent them to refugees? Unlike the US, Germany does not have enforced protections against discrimination, including housing. One of the Afghan refugees being housed at a former concentration camp has lived in Germany for 5 years, has a job and can afford an apartment, but no one will agree to rent him one! So, he ends up being moved from a refugee center to a concentration camp (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/19/the-refugees-who-live-at-dachau). As a Jew, the idea of a concentration camp being used to allow Germans to continue their xenophobia and discrimination is sickening. Rather than take the easy way out and use camps, perhaps they should address housing discrimination. That would allow those that can afford to rent apartments to do so.

Obviously, the same occurs in employment, hiring is much harder if you are foreign and there are no really enforceable anti-discrimination laws (see MIPEX). Highly qualified refugees who in the US could work in their profession (doctors, vets) after a (paid) residency, cannot in Germany. In 2012 they introduced a measure allowing equivalency, but in typical German style it is close to impossible to meet and in practice, doesn't seem to be working.

So, I think refugees are getting too much blame for the failures of Germany. Germany loves the positive attention, but fails to do the hard work that needs to be done. Perhaps Germany is not the best country for refugees and they should spend the money improving the situation in some other way.

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Paul Azaroff • Sep 29, 2015 at 08:16

What efforts are Arab nations making? What is their responsibility towards their fellow Arabs? Why are Europeans being asked to make sacrifices while Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait, Morocco are not taking extraordinary measures to help their fellow Arabs? We already have an Arab refugee problem as a result of Arab inaction in 1948. This is a repeat but on a much larger scale.

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Herbert Dower • Sep 28, 2015 at 19:19

If good hard working German citizens are being forced out of their homes and assets I would say the following. Sell your homes and assets and come to Australia. Help us make this country great in the way that others can never now become.

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lori Herbert Dower • Jan 22, 2016 at 22:44

Yes, people of Germany, if it comes to that, and it will, come to Australia please, we would love to have you here. You deserve much better friends.

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Mark Matthias • Sep 28, 2015 at 12:53

"...they will become long-term wards of the state and thus a drag on the German economy. The report advises lowering the minimum wage as a way to prevent a surge in the unemployment rate:" Can a society become more unproductive?

Astonishing. Although we know the world is sliding into an social and economic abyss, it's still amazing to witness it. Germany is one domino on the table next to many. No doubt the unifying of the diversity of cultures will be a real hot potato; and there will certainly be no unity through their different theologies; so the level of tension will be untenable.

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Jan van der Waal • Sep 28, 2015 at 06:31

It is very interesting to note that NONE of the rich (mostly Arab) oil countries are even considering taking in these migrants.

Also, all these young men should be home fighting for THEIR country. Now, we the so called "Free West" are helping them by doing the fighting FOR them!!

I might be 66 years of age, but if some group of armed thugs attacked my country, I would rather die then give in. But this is not about the fighting, this is about taking over the world! If that happens there will be NO freedom of speech and religion etc.

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David • Sep 27, 2015 at 23:08

These are German citizens who have every right to live within their means and own property. Yet the German government believes that they can simply take their property because citizens can go into debt? Last I checked migrants who suddenly show up, and have no real job prospects in the area aren't going to be paying taxes. The citizens do pay taxes, and shouldn't be treated like cheap furniture. Those migrants had better be ready for alot of hatred and resentment coming their way.

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Jerrold Sobel David • Sep 29, 2015 at 00:17

To people who believe in G-d, what's happening today in Europe is His punishment for hundreds of years of unrelenting pogroms, carnage, rapes, mass murder, and near total annihilation of the Jewish people.

As the years unfurled, German people have forgotten the butchery their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents inflicted upon G-d's people, the Jews, but He hasn't.

Europe as a whole is done, the curse of a low birthrate in connection with the high birthrate of your new Muslim masters has doomed you. But the pain of His wrath will be most severe on the progeny of their monstrous 20th century German ancestors.

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Cole • Sep 27, 2015 at 22:49

Let them live in the streets, they will have your heads!

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Tom • Sep 27, 2015 at 19:43

I think this is great. The Germans are facing a better fate than the Jews of the 1940's who were evicted from their homes and sent to concentration camps. They killed the Jews and now are getting Arabs who will be great addition to the fatherland.

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Jim Briggs • Sep 27, 2015 at 18:51

It seems incredible that the German government has not taken note of the problems "home grown" Muslims are causing in Britain and other countries.Yet they alienate their own people with these Socialist/communist traits.

Many of the terms being used against the German people to accommodate migrants are reminiscent of those used by another German leader circa 1935. Polizeigesetz, Eigenbedarf, Hausverbot.

Fortunately, the Germans won't have to build mosques for the migrants, Saudi Arabia has promised to fulfill this role. All those young Syrians, who have nothing better to do, will continue their learning within those enclosures.

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Morty Mooze • Sep 27, 2015 at 18:41

It appears that the "refugee" camel has just begun to stick his nose into the German tent.

We all know the story. And we all know how the story ends.

It seems that these "immigrants" or "refugees" do not intend to work but to live off the big money dole they garner from the German government.

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mapguy • Sep 27, 2015 at 18:07

This is insanity. How can the govt possibly think this is sustainable? They would be treating unemployable refugees better than their own citizens. If the refugees showed even the slightest hint of gratitude, maybe that would make it more bearable, but I would destroy my own house before I gave it up to these people. Germany would make their own citizens homeless to give places to refugees. Plus who will pay for maintenance and utility costs when winter comes for the new renters? I would think that Germany will face a revolt by their own citizens if they do this.

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Don mapguy • Sep 29, 2015 at 18:48

Hard to believe this is the same country that at one time conquered most of Europe and part of the Soviet Union. What has happened to you???

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Eldon • Sep 27, 2015 at 17:50

"Excuse me while I burn my other properties..."

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Harvey • Sep 27, 2015 at 17:36

If this madness to help these immigrants is not controlled better, Germany is done for. It is ironic that the country that wanted to eradicate the Jews is itself about to be eradicated itself. Nice one!

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Mark Anderson • Sep 27, 2015 at 17:28

This is an appalling violation of basic property rights and the rights of German citizens.

Turning children out of schools so the schools can be used to house illegal migrants? Providing financial incentives for landlords to evict long term tenants in order to get more rent by replacing them with subsidized migrants? I'm a landlord but I wouldn't take such an offer because of the risk of damage to my building and my loyalty to good tenants who pay rent and don't damage my building. But I understand the perverse financial incentives here. I also understand the mindset of people like these Hamburg city councillors who want to confiscate private property; such totalitarians should be fought and resisted by all means.

But the clear message here is that Europe as we have known it is finished unless Europeans start fighting back. I don't see that happening in Western Europe, so, as much as I hate to see it happen, I can only conclude that Western Europe is finished. It's only a question of time.

Excellent article on a very depressing scenario.

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Kristin Tisdall Mark Anderson • Oct 4, 2015 at 19:05

I am the daughter of holocaust survivors and live in New Zealand, which gave my parents refuge after the second world war. I have been following the events taking place in Germany with a mixture of horror and fascination.

Never would I have believed that the German government could be so blind and incredibly stupid. This is the beginning of the end for Germany, and my heart goes out to German citizens who were never consulted as to the events which are unfolding before their eyes. I can only suggest that New Zealand and Australia would welcome Germans. Here, as yet, geography protects us.

My heart weeps for Germany.

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werewife • Sep 27, 2015 at 17:20

I guess now is as good as any a time to read Jean Raspail's "The Camp of the Saints." Published in 1973, manifested in 2015...

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Sherri Palmer • Sep 27, 2015 at 16:58

Germany is making a horrid mistake! Making their citizens turn their rightfully owned property over to their enemy! Unheard of! This country will pay heavily for doing this! They will also not only have the citizens to fight, but the enemy! I don't understand the reason for not seeing the truth of this 'refugee' Trojan horse! Germany has gone insane! I don't even think this is about Germany's destiny anymore; it is about the Islamic takeover of Europe!

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L N Klass • Sep 27, 2015 at 16:55

The tables have turned. The Muslims may create a Holocaust for the Germans, evicting them from their country etc.

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Ms Silvia • Sep 27, 2015 at 16:22

One would never guess that Germany would be such a push-over! The country, through its own policies, appears to be digging itself a deep trench which will be every difficult to crawl out of! Good luck!

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Prof • Sep 27, 2015 at 15:19

Lets see. Productive, tax-paying citizens, (and their children), are being displaced, in increasingly larger numbers, to make way for tens of thousands of (mostly) young healthy men, with no marketable skills, virtually no prospect of becoming productive citizens, who hold our society in utter contempt.

This of course, does not seem to present a problem to the mathematically deficient lunatic left. They are oblivious to rapidly rising crime statistics. They seem unable to comprehend the demographic consequences implicit in giving "free" accommodation, food, and medical care to hundreds of thousands of people who will not observe our laws. (They brought their own Sharia law!)

The invasion continues apace, exacerbated by Western media. Have you noticed the media is getting better at finding a few women & children to include in the photos of the poor starving refugees? (Even if it means recycling a few shots many times?)

I propose a solution! Let every politician who proposes taking assets, public or private, from the citizens of a host nation to give to the invaders first give up their children's places in school and vacate ALL of their own accommodation. The same policy could apply to the civil service enablers who make the decisions as to which people are to be displaced.

Problem solved!

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Jac • Sep 27, 2015 at 14:39

Have the German political elite learned nothing from the past? Eighty years ago it was the Jews who were evicted from their homes, now it is Germans being displaced in favour of those who have no intention of integrating into German life. Merkel must go.

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Bindon Blood • Sep 27, 2015 at 14:26

This all seems very familiar; where else could this dysfunctional self harm by a purportedly democratic supposedly rational state be happening? Ah, yes, Sweden, of course. Far from taking a timely warming from the immigrant induced chaos in Sweden, we now see another nation intent on reducing itself to a state of serious mayhem; good old, soft headed, guilt sodden Germany. Can anyone really condemn Hungary and a few other East European countries for pulling up the drawbridge when they see the calamity that is, was, the once fair and peaceful land of Germany?

Of course not; they are in fact the few remaining vestiges of sanity in the lunatic asylum that is Western Europe. Mentally ill people are not renowned for the sanity of their actions and judgement; Germany's "leaders" are quite plainly in the grip of serious psychiatric problems; mysterious "voices" are telling them to destroy their country and persecute and harass their own people who might have the temerity to disagree. Actually the "voices" aren't that mysterious. It's Angela and her head banging accomplices in Brussels.

But what about the German people? "What about them"? Angela might well reply,"they don't count". "Look ,everyone knows that Germany and her people have got it coming for starting a war 76 years ago. I know they lost, but honestly, do you think they have suffered enough? Of course not. Anyone who disagrees is obviously a "Neo Nazi" and must be exterminated, er, sorry, re-educated."

It does appear that the governance of Germany is sinking into black farce; German people being unceremoniously booted out of their home and told to go away and get on with it; Germany hating mainly Muslim chancers and Islamic supremacists shown graciously and lovingly over the same threshold that the German granny was so pitilessly dragged over on the way out by the same multi-culti, diversity embracing German quislings of the new semi Islamic Republic of Germany! You couldn't make it up, no one would believe you if you did.

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Christopher Henson • Sep 27, 2015 at 14:18

I noticed on the news report of the migrants being welcomed by German volunteers that one young German woman was wearing a head scarf, presumably to avoid 'offending' the male migrants being processed. Thus signifying to these people an acceptance of their cultural prejudice that women should be appropriately covered in the presence of men and further that they can expect that European women should also have their heads covered when muslim males are around. The damage these supposedly well-meaning volunteers are doing to European culture will be reflected in a diminishing status for women in our society in the very near future.

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E. Bilgeri • Sep 27, 2015 at 14:11

You should collect signatures against such harassment.

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D. M. Mitchell • Sep 27, 2015 at 14:07

Islam is tyranny. The abrogation of property rights is a major step towards total tyranny. Property rights are the basis for all other rights. Germany, you're slitting your own throat and the Muslims have won.

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Leanne Forbes D. M. Mitchell • Nov 6, 2015 at 09:01

Understand this even if you are not religious: Do not throw away what your country was founded on. No. Christians are not going to regard you as an infidel with only death being your lot in life. Therefore, even if you are an atheist you have been afforded the respect you deserve by others but not Islam. These people are not interested in niceties. Throughout history there have been the Crusades fought between Christians and Muslims. This is simply a modern day version of an old Crusade and be warned we have already lost, if someone is waiting for them to say that they have started a war it will never happen but they have, look around you. They move in tear apart our economies and lifestyle and leave us with no rights in our own country. I could not go to their country and do as I please. Simply looking at advertisements of migrant children suffering is a lie as the vast majority of these people on the move are young single men. Hmmm in times gone by if hoardes of young single men landed on the boarder of my country that would have been only for one reason, hmm what was that oh yes WAR.

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SteveHC • Sep 27, 2015 at 13:41

... What else could one expect from the country that brought us "The Nazis"?

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Maia Dimitrova • Sep 27, 2015 at 13:36

Hello Mr. Kern,

I was introduced to the Gatestone Institute not long ago.Thank you for the articles you and your colleagues offer. I am surprised, albeit maybe I should not be, that this information is not found in the mainstream media.

It is really horrendous what is happening in Europe now.

Please continue to write. They are an eye-opening knowledge for everyone who is seeking the truth and the answers to this dangerous situation.

Best,

Maia Dimitrova

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Edward Cline • Sep 27, 2015 at 13:12

What the dispossessed Germans and Swedes should do is destroy their vacant properties by fire or simply demolish them or otherwise make them uninhabitable by anyone. Of course, that would bring the wrath of the state down on their heads of the authorities suspected that the owners committed such "sabotage." But, would that be any worse than being kicked out of one's own home, or having one's property seized by the government and sold to the vultures who hope to recoup their costs through government subsidies for housing the barbarians? It seems the Germans and Swedes need to apply a little "Atlas Shrugs" tactics to fight back against their own governments.

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Sheldon Tupperman • Sep 27, 2015 at 12:38

The Germans have experienced horrible dictatorships in the 20th century, nazism and communism in the east, a new dictatorship can emerge again and, with powerful allies (oil exporting countries!) such a dictatorship can last much longer if the Germans "accept the rule of (arbitrary) law." If they (excepting of course the "politically correct") however decide to fight, they have no access to weapons A new "Prise de la Bastille" like that of July the 14th, 1789 in Paris, France is a total impossibility anno 2015, as the powers-that-be lernt their lesson: they have water cannons, tear gas, all kinds of weapons, horses, cars, tanks, informers, jails, (or even the possibility of new concentration camps) and the people don't. Can a new movement like the one that began in 1989 against the communist dictatorshipo in the GDR stop Merkel's madness? I don't know. All I know is that Nostradamus predicted in the 16th century that ALL of Europe would become islamized. I am afraid he was right. I just hope to be dead and buried when that's the case, it's a blessing to be old!

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Mary • Sep 27, 2015 at 12:36

I am not shocked at the way immimgrants from Syria behave. How dare a group of young men sit around and watch an elderly man move a table. Germany is inviting the Trojan Horse into the front door. It will be a matter of time before crimes against women will start to rise because of the culture from where these people come from. I would rally protest protest protest. If Syrians could not make peace with their own fellow man, then what's going to change if they assume the same behavior of their native country, then changing country's is not going to solve anything, it's just going to pacify the beast from within for a while.

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jp • Sep 27, 2015 at 12:19

The right to own property, our third right, is the next threat we face. The elderly man asking for help with the table, was asking the wrong man. The "refuge" is a Muslim who is superior to the German who is an infidel.

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Dixi • Sep 27, 2015 at 11:29

I'm German and honestly? I'm off to Catalonia for good! Just cannot stay in this mad house any longer. Merkel has lost it, together with all the other politicians.

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Marc S. Levin • Sep 27, 2015 at 11:15

Even if the "refugees" were NOT bringing a barbaric and vile political and social ideology at odds with democratic principles with them as they flee domestic political (masquerading as "religious") violence, they are NOT entitled to freeload on an economic and social system their "religious" leaders daily vow to eradicate, on a global scale.

This outrage arising from suicidal cultural relativism must be contrasted with the way Germany abused Greece recently. The Greeks may have mismanaged their country's economy for generations but, they have never called for the destruction of their neighbors' way of life, they want to share it.

Arab Muslim "refugee" believers in Islamofacsim should be resettled in Arab-Muslim theocratic countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai, etc., where their Sharia-law enforcing political leaders can provide for them in the corporeal and incorporeal lands they control-lands that are violent spiritual prisons.

Only true refugees fleeing their murderous Islamofascist cultures, who pass a loyalty exam based on fidelity to a receiving country's basic democratic principles and renounce Sharia law, should be allowed to settle in a Western-style democracy. AND NEVER AT THE INDIVIDUAL EXPENSE OF ANY CIIZEN OF THAT COUNTRY. Doesn't Germany have laws prohibiting dissemination of Nazi literature and laws prohibiting Nazi behaviors? Why not Islamofascism? Why the disconnect?

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Cody Flecker • Sep 27, 2015 at 11:01

How long do you honestly think that the average German is going to take this insult to them and their property rights. The German People have made great strides in becoming democratic and fair minded to all people, now their Government is instituting massive changes to their lifestyle, how long do you think it will take for another Hitler to come on the scene and protect the Deutsche Volk?

Reading this article about the most successful country in all of Europe is heart breaking. The German economy is what guides all of Europe, and with this gigantic surge in migrants who will be on welfare for most of their lives, Germany will slip in economic productivity, thus causing a slide in every other country in Europe.

Looking at the disaster that is underway in Sweden, and knowing the militaristic history of Germany, it will not be too long before we see a massive move to the Right politically in Germany.

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Michael Waugh • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:53

Thanks to Mrs Merkel's generous offers to incoming migrants German residents have few rights. No wonder there is a rise of the Far Right. Europe is going to be devastated; thank God for the English Channel.

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Maria Harris • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:52

Germany has got itself a long-term burden because these parasites didn't not come to build the country but to take everything the country has to offer. They do not integrate, they will make demands, they don't respect other religion or culture, they in force their religion, belief and culture in others and they view themselves as a superior race. You guys got a problem big time. The UK and Hungarian government got it right. The European Union doesn't have a clue and worst Ms Merkel seems 'bonkers'. The migrants need to be giving a one way ticket home. They can be helped from the bordering camps.

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Frances Weingarten • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:25

The first question is why is Germany bringing hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly Syrian, to settle in Germany? Is it to atone for the holocaust? If so, it is a misplaced attempt. Germany will become a nation under sharia law if it continues this practice and even now it may be too late to prevent this happening.

The second question is why do the German leaders believe it is acceptable to remove property from German people to house these immigrants? This is unconscionable behaviour and defies reason. German leaders are placing their citizens in grave harm, both financially and bodily by their decision and this will create a host of problems which are bound to add additional strife to an already difficult situation.

It seems to me that Angela Merkel and the German leadership and many of its citizens have lost their way.

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Fred • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:21

The poet Schiller comes to mind: "and an error is in life, to acknowledge is a shock ". The haste the Germans opened the gates is astounding. There were no basic preparations to house "the colonists". The Germans get a taste of their own medicine from the war, when they hounded Jews & others from their homes to take these over. Reading Kern's article it becomes a stark reminder that the eager work force Germany is expecting may be wishful thinking. These "Colonists" coming all the way to Germany have to learn German, have to embrace work ethics, that may take years, meanwhilethe welfare system will be sucked dry. 90% young men no women the authorities may ask the German women to comfort these lonely men, as they ask the German citizen to vacate their homes to make comfort living space "Lebensraum" for these colonists. I wonder how many politicians are making space in their luxury homes for these poor "Colonists". Europe will go down as the flood increases.

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Ralph • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:12

And here we see the result of differing philosophical outlooks regarding governance. I can't help but think that what is occurring in Germany would be different if they had a concept that the rights of the people come from God and are not granted by government. What pray tell do you think would be the reaction of people in the United States if the government attempted to dislocate the people from their properties in order to house immigrants (legal or illegal).

In the German government's failure to uphold the rights of their own citizenry over that of the newly arrived immigrant, the current Germany government is inviting its own overthrow (peacefully one hopes) and replacement with a much more nationalistic, anti-immigrant leaning government. Angela Merkel would do well to take to heart the words of Pogo "We have met the enemy and he is us."

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PIETER V • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:08

Those German politicians are a lot of cowards and traitors treating the people who elected them by confiscating property that rightfully belong to those that elected them. It is time the German people rise up to those traitors and get rid of them. How many of the politicians have made their homes available to those immigrants? They're worse than Hitler he'd rather got rid of the invaders before treating his people so inhumanely the politicians are talking of human rights when most of the invaders doesn't know what human rights are and will live of those same German peoples taxes that were evicted from their homes, what about the evicted Germans human rights? I CAN PREDICT if the Germans don't stand up now they'll be run by the Muslims in a few years from now. GET RID OF ANGELA MERKEL AND HER CRONIES. Before it is to late, not next week or next year, NOW before this inhumanity escalate to where there is no return.

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judyg • Sep 27, 2015 at 10:04

Merkel was always the most sensible of all the European leaders. This is bizarre, and, I fear, coming soon to your neighborhood. Wherever you are in the world.

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Carl • Sep 27, 2015 at 09:51

It seems that history is repeating itself as far as property confiscation is concerned. This is exactly what our Second Amendment was created to stop. Could this happen in an armed society? I strongly doubt it. The worst part is that these immigrants think this is all coming to them and they deserve anything they can get for free. Whatever happened to the common sense statement, "Sorry, we have run out of room for any more of you".

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Lee • Sep 27, 2015 at 09:49

These 'chickens' will come home to roost but with not a Jew to blame! Advice to the Germans-learn Arabic.

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Conrad in Canada • Sep 27, 2015 at 09:34

This is incredible. Disgusting, and a complete insult to the German citizens. Where is the government coming from, putting their own people behind a bunch of invaders. This is just about unbelievable.

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Sandra Girardau • Sep 27, 2015 at 09:25

I am getting to the point that I am having a hard time reading these articles as my blood boils at the insanity of the situation.People are trying to help these refugees who are making a mockery out of decency. I truly hope these German citizens make a stand and refuse to be treated in this draconian manner.If this happened to me I would for sure turn into a racist, enough is enough this is ethnic cleansing of the worst kind, the total disregard for the indigenous Germans.
The people need to stand up against this tyrany, wars have started for less. Civil war is on Europe's doorstep and the governments are to blame.When all hell breaks loose the political parties will scratch their heads and ask, what happened?

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Caroline Jones • Sep 27, 2015 at 09:19

This is deeply scary. The same thing is happening in Sweden and it is only a matter of time before it happens in Britain (It may already have, for all I know). How long will Europe allow itself to be parasited on by lazy, feckless males from other countries?

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steve omara • Sep 27, 2015 at 09:11

The houses 'appropriated' from Jewish German citizens who were forcibly 'removed' to 'resettlement' [DEATH] camps by Nazis are still being lived in by German squatters. These should be given free to immigrants, seems sort of prophetic...

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Eric Dondero • Sep 27, 2015 at 08:22

Yet we in the West are too afraid to call this what it is: an outright Muslim invasion of Europe.

Part of y'all's problem in Europe, save Switzerland, is that you don't have gun rights. These Muslims can walk right over you and you can't do anything to fight back.

Until we lose the political correctness, and that includes PC on the right, the situation can only get worse. This is an invasion. Time to fight back.

Eric Dondero, PublisherLibertarian RepublicanHouston, Texas USA

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Chaya Eric Dondero • Sep 28, 2015 at 05:44

A big thank you for publishing these articles on Germany. These are very important, as German media is no longer reporting such things, or only in a limited manner. However, people are noticing -- we are not stupid -- and are learning to read between lines (again.)

True, there is a fear that the neo-Nazis might use such infos for violence, however, by not addresssing problems openly, people will say that statements like "Lügenpresse" traditionally used by the extreme right are correct: We are being lied to. It is a difficult line to tread: the policies of eviction are government-driven and not asylum seeker-driven, so the anger should be at the German government: To all German citizens who read : Please protest directly to the government!

Somehow we have to stop this insanity and at the same time avoid a racist extreme right backlash!

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jane • Sep 27, 2015 at 08:03

What goes around,comes around: 80 years ago, the Nazis began to formulate the lebensraum policy, envisaging a mass land grab to accommodate the aryan volk.Jews, Slavs and other undesirables were forcibly evicted and now it is the Germans themselves who face eviction.It seems that the Teutonic liking for orderliness and obedience is once again dominating public life.The BBC was warning of the rise of 'far right' -- (BBC-speak for anyone who opposes the politically correct status quo) -- movements across Europe,driven by public resentment.Why the surprise?This will end in chaos and mounting civil unrest.

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David B. • Sep 27, 2015 at 07:50

When Germany and other EU Nations -- as the United States is doing under the current Pharaoh -- do not secure their borders, they cease to be nations. Europe whether the Islamic hordes in the 8th and 17th Centuries, largely due to brave leaders who rallied the masses at places like Tours and Vienna. The EU now seems bereft of such leadership. Throwing private property owners out of their hard-earned homesteads to house people bent on radically changing Christendom forever? It is time for Europeans to recognize this existential threat and get tough.

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Reiner K David B. • Sep 29, 2015 at 00:49

I'm an ethic German born in Canada. I know that my family goes back to at least the 30 Year's War (1648). I'm watching events from here unfold, and am incredulous...can the majority of Germans be onside with this insanity?

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jeb stuart • Sep 27, 2015 at 07:49

The Palestinians claim they are the "new Nazis", why doesn't the Hamburg government just hang out a sign, "Welcome Home"!

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Ed in North Texas • Sep 27, 2015 at 07:36

Has the world been so completely successful in causing the entire German people to feel such guilt over WW II and the Holocaust that they willingly put up with rape, eviction from their homes, expropriation of the property they have worked for, etc.? Is it ingrained obedience to authority that prevents the German people from convincing their politicians to not only stop, but reverse this madness? Or is it something else, perhaps slightly short of stupidity?

As someone with German forebears on both paternal and maternal sides, I'm at a loss to understand why the people put up with this. Perhaps that is due to my parents having been born in the US shortly after 1900 and I am thoroughly American.

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Hanna • Sep 27, 2015 at 07:31

Welcome everyone -- this is what UTOPIA is all about -- EVERYONE IS EQUALLY POOR, except some are more equal than others. This is what happens when people act first and think later. So, migrants are in and Germans are out -- what a mess!!! And they (the Germans) thought the JEWS were a problem? Thank you Soeren Kern for bringing this article to everyone's attention and thank you Gatestone.

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Albert • Sep 27, 2015 at 07:00

Churches with low attendance must be given to the needy Muslim refugees as mosques and all religious items removed first? Europe was terrible to Jews up to now. Why is Europe so caring about Muslim refugees? Jews! Get out of Europe while you still can!Europe! Enjoy your new identity. Shariah will fit you perfectly.

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Aridaman Albert • Sep 29, 2015 at 13:09

The fate of Germany was sealed when the total fertility rate for German women fell below the replacement value of 2.11, now it is shockingly low at a mere 1.43. The massive influx into Germany of immigrants, asylum-seekers, refugees or whatever, eight hundred thousand of them this year and many, many more to come in the following years, with their ceiling-high fertility rates, will be the final nail in the German state's coffin.

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Marilyn Howard Aridaman • Oct 11, 2016 at 20:56

I have read every single comment. We in the United States are experiencing the same problems. The government has not confiscated owned vacant property -- yet. However, from the article and comments I can see it coming. We have subsidized housing and senior citizen frozen rent apartments. I have lived in my two bedroom apartment for 35 years, I may be thrown out along with thousands of other senior citizens. We already have 11 million undocumented illegal immigrants living here, many of whom have 2 or 3 children. Barack Obama has already invited in thousands of refugees that will be on the dole for the next three generations. When Hillary Clinton becomes President she has made no secret of the fact that she will add another 150,000 refugees to the welfare rolls and wants open borders. This, in spite of the fact that we have thousands of homeless Americans -- Veterans, unemployed, disabled and mentally challenged. We will soon be experiencing your grief and tragedy. There will not be enough resources to go around and violence will eventually prevail.